My pen holders line up at the top of the desk in mugs organized by type and brand. Fine, medium, chiseled. Black to fuchsia. Blue to lime. Highlighters in all shades. A vast array allowing choice based on need. The baggie, plan book, letter, chart, notebook. Each require a different tool. Some more than one. A necessary luxury I tell myself as I test out another brand.
Pens. Some bleed leaving marks on anything that gets too close. The traces left behind on the papers beneath become a part of the next chart and as the papers dwindle on to the desk below. Leaving a rainbow of marks on the wooden table. Unintentional marks that will remind me of today.
The permanence of pens reveals mistakes.Those times when the head gets ahead of the hand. Anticipating the word “leave” before the word “spaces” is finished and the letter “l” appears instead of an “s”. The perfectionist in me grabs a new page. Begin again. And again as another mishap occurs.
Pens. A test of my mettle? Who will outlast the other. Page after page until the pen’s crisp lines lessen and lighten. Another one? No, the color is not quite right.
I succumb to white out coating over the imperfections. Thinking, good enough.
Read more slices here.
To Read To Write To Be 
I still have my fountain pens and use them to write my points for blogs and to make a list.
I don’t have my fountain pens but remember them dearly. Love that you have a purpose for them as well.
There is nothing in this world like a fresh cup of a rainbow of pens. I’m also a perfectionist—I hate those mistakes—so this was so relatable!
Pens are included in my budget and sometimes kids call me the pen lady when they can’t remember my name. I’m in constant debate over which one for a writing task. I hear you!
Pen lady! That is perfect as is a budget for pens. So you.
I am impressed by your pen collection. They sure bring colour to your pages and life.
Tools matter. Your collection sounds highly organized. This post tells us a lot about you- your habits and methods. I could picture you working.
I’m right there with you in these musings about pens. I can only use blue Pilot Precise V5s in my writer’s notebooks. But when I write letters or write in my bullet journals, it’s black ink only. Right now, I’m loving the Uniball Vision and they seem to last pretty well. I love my InkJoys for taking notes on my yellow legal pads during class. But InkJoys are such a scam because they last for 5 minutes. I just bought my first fountain pen but haven’t started using it yet.
So funny! Yes, pen scams are so irritating. I refuse to repurchase that kind of pen. Fountain pens are tempting. Having the ability to refill give me pleasure.
I have so many pens, but my first choice is always a pencil. I like to be able to erase.
My desk includes paint brushes, drawing pencils and micron pens for art. So do tell what is your current favorite pen? Inquiring minds want to know! 🙂
I have a very hard time with favorites. Always. There are so many qualifying parameters. For example, my favorite for my plan book is the Frixton 0.7 erasable blue pen. Completely nerdy. My favorite for chart making on for projecting on zoom is Crayola fine point markers. I think this requires another post. So silly!
This is a fun post about pens. I have them everywhere! Ziploc bag in my backpack, circular holder on my desk, in a cloth bag a friend made that says “Hello, Gorgeous.” I feel a pen post coming on.
Every year I build in a purchase, a large purchase, of Papermate Flair pens. I have to refresh my supply, but can’t seem to get rid of last year’s until they truly don’t work anymore. My husband is always so surprised at how happy I become at the sight of these pens, and he even buys the smaller packs for me from the store. I love the bold and paradise type colors, too!
Unpopular opinion, but I can’t stand flair pens. I’m a HARD presser and they never seem to travel with my word, but stutter or smear instead. I appreciate a good pen for every occasion, though! Thanks for sharing! I won’t think of my BICs the same way again!